Parsha Perspectives for Today (Tetzaveh, 5782) - Consistency and Reliability

Good morning, Boca Tov. It's very good to be together on this special Zion Adar. Today is the seventh day of Adar, both the birthday and the Yahrzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu, a day that we recognize and honor the Chevra Kadisha. Zayin Adar, I know some of you are looking at me, Adar Rishon, Adar Sheini, is the first Adar or is it the second Adar? Will the real Adar please stand up? We actually spoke about that a little bit last week with a luncheon that we gave about about Kaparas Parsha and the institution of Rosh Chodesh. So, there's different minhagim, there are different customs. Mishna Berurah sounds like one proper to observe Adar, Zayin Adar, and honor the Chevra Kadisha the first Adar. And for that and other reasons we are. But anyway, good to be together on a Zayin Adar. Always good to be together no matter what. Parsha Shiur series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, l'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manish. And we're very grateful to the Grossmans for their generosity. This morning's Shiur is also sponsored by Sheindy and Eli Lasson in commemoration of yesterday's Yahrzeit of Sheindy's sister, Riva Frankel, Miriam Riva bas Avraham Ephraim v'Ethel, and in gratitude to Boca Raton Synagogue for uh whatever it is they're grateful for. Thank you so much for your generosity. And by Sandy and Sidney Goldschmidt l'ilui nishmas Chaver Ephraim ben Chaver Moshe Yehuda, Tzivia bas Avraham, Tzivia bas Avraham ben Matisyahu, and Moshe ben Simcha. Big thank you to the Goldschmidts. And all of our learning is dedicated for a speedy, complete, and painless refuah shleimah for Esther Tilla bas Tzpora, uh bas Aryeh Tzpora, and for Carmela Shaya ben Reiza. Okay, page 644, 464. Page 464 in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash. Let's begin even before the beginning. How do you begin before the beginning? Before we get to the Parsha, as I said, today is Zayin Adar, and uh if you'll go to a Zayin Adar dinner event tonight for the Chevra Kadisha, you'll hear more about Zayin Adar. The Gemara Megillah tells us Haman's miscalculation. He thought the 7th of Adar was only an inauspicious day and that's why he chose it to exterminate the Jewish people because that was the day of Moshe Rabbeinu's yahrzeit. That's when he died. That was the day of his demise. What he miscalculated it was also the day of his birth. But who cares? He died after his birth. So maybe the fact that the yahrzeit, the death, should be what captures the theme of the day. Where did he go wrong in making a mistake in not recognizing it's the day of his birth? So go to design another dinner for that. That's not what I want to focus on. I want to focus instead on not today, Tuesday, but next Monday night before we'll get together again next week because that is a little holiday called little holiday. Tacha's a little holiday. It's called Purim Katan. It's a little holiday. See what I did there? It's a little holiday. The Rama of Moshe Isserles concludes his commentary on the entire Shulchan Aruch, the section of Orach Chaim, the section of daily living, the six volumes of the Mishnah Berurah that we have is divided into. The Rama of Moshe Isserles, Krakow, Poland, 16th century, concludes his entire commentary on Orach Chaim with the following words. Mi kom makom yarbek tzatz seudah kedei latzeis yedei hamachmirim. Some people observe Purim Katan, most neglect, don't even acknowledge Purim Katan. It means there are two Adars, which is the real Adar and which is the extra Adar. As I said, that's an entire discussion, not for now. We observe Purim in the second Adar. Why? The Gamara's conclusion is "We're samchin geulah l'geulah." We observe one redemption adjacent to the other redemption. Nissan, the great redemption, and please God, what will bring the future redemption. Nissan, the redemption of Pesach, so we observe the redemption of Purim is close to it, the second Adar. So should you do anything the first Adar? Should we just let it go by? Do we allow the 14th, 15th of of Adar Rishon to pass without even acknowledging it. So, the Rama says, "No." The Rama says, "Yarbech tzas besuda." Uh Jews don't need much of an excuse to have a meal. Have a little l'chaim, have a little meal. Why? K'dei latzei' es yedei hamachmirim, in order to fulfill the will of those who are strict. And why? Tov lev mishteh tamid. One with a good heart rejoices and celebrates regularly. One with a good heart rejoices and celebrates regularly. And those are the closing words of the Rama in Orach Chaim. That tov lev mishteh tamid. A person has a good heart is always looking for a good party. Is always looking for a good excuse to break bread, and to smile, and to have a good time, and to offer hospitality, and to enjoy with other people. Tov lev, a good heart. In fact, I saw this quote from Rav Aharon Karliner. Rav Aharon Karliner is the one who wrote Kah Echsof, the holy holy Shabbos song that we sing, Kah Echsof. So, Rav Rav Aharon Karliner said, "Ha'atzvus einah cheit." Sadness is not a sin. "Aval af cheit lo yachol la'asos es mah she'oseh ha'atzvus." Sadness is not a sin, but even sin can't do to you what sadness does. Sadness is not a sin, but even sin can't do to you what sadness does. The notion of uh of happiness, of the being joyful. We're discussing this in our Living with Emunah series right now. And we discussed last week, we'll continue tomorrow, that doesn't mean that there aren't moments of pain and of grief. There aren't moments of difficulty or challenge. There aren't moments that we feel down in the dumps. It's legitimate. It's okay. A person has to honor those feelings. But it means on the whole, or even within those feelings, to find the simcha, to find the shleimus, to find Hashem even within those moments. So, a person makes a mistake. Cheit is a mistake. If I did a cheit, you do not veer. It's a terrible thing. And it's harmful. There's a negative impact and residual influence on us. But it can't do what sadness does. When a person becomes hopeless and helpless, when a person is sad, when a person is down and out, when a person gives up, the negative energy with that creates for us. It says the Rama, "Told live mishta tamid." One with a good heart rejoices and celebrates regularly. It's very interesting that the Rama I don't want to spend too much time on this. I want to get to the parsha. But, the Rama ends ends Orach Chaim the way he begins. Told live mishta tamid. The very last word of his commentary on Orach Chaim is tamid. Tamid means always, consistently, constantly, continuously. And he begins Orach Chaim the same way. How does the Rama begin Orach Chaim? The Rama begins the laws of Hashkamas Haboker. How are you supposed to wake up in the morning? What is the way to wake up? Zach the Rama, "Shivisi Hashem lenegdi tamid." Who called Godol ba'Torah. You want to know an important rule, an important principle in Torah? Shivisi Hashem lenegdi tamid. Hashem, you're always opposite me. Everywhere I go. You're not just in shul, and I don't leave you in the base medrash, and I don't leave you behind when I finish the parsha class, and then I go on to the rest of my secular, profane, mundane life. Shivisi Hashem lenegdi tamid. You're everywhere with me. You're in the kitchen, you're in the carpool, you're in the courtroom, you're in the operating room, the boardroom. You're with me wherever I go. Shivisi Hashem lenegdi tamid. Tamid. K'Shvach, you're with me always, consistently. So, the Rama both begins and ends Orach Chaim with the same word. Tamid. Tamid is the very definition of what it means to be a a Jew. In fact, the Shaarei Teshuvah quotes a practice of writing these words, Shivisi Hashem lenegdi tamid, on a piece of paper and putting them in your siddur. Make it the home screen of your smartphone. Make it the sticker outside your laptop. Make it the It's to be what's on our mind all the time. Hashem, I'm never without you. I can lean on you, and I can count on you, and I thank you, and I protest you, and I feel that your presence at my side all the time, always and forever. You're always around me. This notion of the Talmud that the Ramah both begins and ends Orach Chaim with, one should always feel that they're in the presence, that they have the support, the love of Hashem, that he's aware of and holds us accountable for all we do, all the time and always. That's the way we wake up in the morning, the way that we greet the day. Scabber Kahari, we jump up and we wake up like a lion. We don't just schlep out of day 17 snoozes, we crawl on hands and knees to go splash some water on our face, and we're miserable. We'd rather get back in bed. But we Scabber Kahari. We greet the day like a lion with a roar. We wake up to greet the day. Every day is filled with promise and possibility. Every day is hope and optimism. Every day is sunshine and every day is is illumination, is brightness. We jump up and we greet that day, so glad, so grateful, so hopeful. Each and every day, but with a sense of Shehechiyanu. Yes, I'm going to give something to Hashem. I'm greeting the day and I'm going to lie and I'm going to kill it. What am I going to kill it in? Business? I'm going to kill it in gashmius, materialism? I'm going to kill it in feeling you're by my side, living with you, talking to you, being grateful to you. The Ramah ends the same way, Purim Katan. Next week, we don't always have it. It's only in a leap year. Purim Katan, let us have a little seudah. Why? Because a happy person is always happy. Have another seudah. Have a l'chaim. Why? Doesn't matter, l'chaim. Cuz you're alive, to life. We're alive, l'chaim. To life. The Ramah opens and closes the same way. In his instructions to Ein Yaakov, a commentary on the aggadic sections of the Gemara, Rav Yaakov ibn Chaviv quotes a Midrash. It's a Midrash nobody's found. It's a Midrash we don't seem to have extant, which means it's not even really ever a Midrash, or we lost the Midrash, but we have a tradition of this Midrash. And many are familiar with it. I don't want to belabor the point, but this does connect to our parashah. The Midrash had a debate. There's have been a a conference and convention. If I was going to take the time, I would paint a picture of how they were at the Homowack and they served Chinese food and all the rabbis were there for this conference and they had a big debate and a big question of what possuk, what verse in the Torah most accurately, most authentically captures the essence of what Torah is about. What is the bumper sticker? What is the motto of the Jewish people? So Ben Zoma says, "Shma Yisrael What's the motto of the Jewish people? The uniqueness, the oneness of Hashem." What is the motto of the Jewish people? What is the mission statement of the life of a Jew? It's Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim. To recognize that we submit, surrender to him. How many people these were the last words on their lips as they were martyrs, they gave their lives for being Jews. This is how I deal with every parent puts their child to bed every night. Let's say Shma. Don't forget to say Shma. So Ben Zoma says, "What's the motto? What's the bumper sticker? It's easy. The mission statement is Shma." Rebbe Akiva, who himself said Shma when he was murdered by the Romans, but did not suggest it was Shma. He claims there's a more important possuk. Rebbe Akiva learned this likely after 24,000 of his own students died because they covered because they did not figure out with all their Torah learning, with all their scholarship, with all their strictness, they did not figure out how to just be nice to one another. So Rebbe Akiva says, "You know what the motto and the mission statement of the Jew is? V'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha. Zeh klal gadol baTorah. Love your neighbor as yourself. That's it. Now who's the neighbor? Love Hashem, love people and both love. Be a person who loves. Don't be a person who fights. There are fighters and there are lovers. Be a lover, not a fighter. There are people who love to fight. What the fight is on any particular day, you could, you know, find another place, cut and paste. You could substitute. That day's fight, they have yet to figure out what it's going to be. All they know is there's going to be a fight. There are people who love to fight. They want to fight, they look to fight, they love to fight. They get some cortisol or adrenaline release from the fight. They love to fight. So, Rabbi Akiva sees the students are fighters and he says, "Stop being fighters, be lovers. Love everybody." Love Hashem, love your fellow man, be a lover. But, then there's a third opinion. And the third opinion is a possuk from our parsha, it's Tetzaveh. And it is bein ha'arbayim. Offer one sheep in the morning, offer one sheep in the afternoon, the carbon tamid. The carbon tamid was offered. The narrative tamid we read about in the beginning of the parsha, we read it one moment, the opening possuk. And the carbon tamid, the daily sacrifice, in fact, we fast on shiv'ah asar b'Tammuz. We fast, we launch the three weeks. The opening fast that launches the three weeks of grieving, of mourning. Shiv'ah asar b'Tammuz, the five reasons that are given at the end of meseches Ta'anis. And one of the reason is buttel carbon tamid. We had this daily sacrifice and we offered it. Rain, sleet, snow, Shabbos, Yom Tov, Yom Kippur, didn't matter. 365 days a year, the daily sacrifice was offered every morning and every afternoon. You know, I got a taste of this Gemara a little bit when two years ago we're approaching the anniversary of that fateful day. We sat in my office and we spoke to the hospital, the head of the hospital, and he asked us, he beseeched us, "You got to close down the shul." Remember the two weeks we closed in order to flatten the curve? Two weeks have become two years. But, the two weeks to flatten the curve, when we closed down that shul, it was a Friday. And shul that Shabbos was desolate, was empty. There was a minyan here every single day since the opening of shul, every morning and every evening. Even during the hurricanes. When we had hurricanes and we were able, there wasn't a full 24-hour period there wasn't a minyan. They make fun of me cuz I missed minyan during the hurricane. Rabbi Klein, zichrono livracha, Holocaust survivor, who was in his 80s, found his way to shul in the middle of the hurricane. Okay, he was built tougher, clearly. But, even during the hurricanes we had minyanim. So, when we closed the shul down, the significance of something you're used to tamid every single day, dependable, reliable, predictable, and stops. Gets closed down. It's shuttered. It's painful. So, we fast every year shabbos and tamid because we remember among the five calamities, among the five traumatic things we still haven't collectively recovered from yet, was batel carbon tamid. You could count on it. You could set your watch to it every morning, every evening, the carbon tamid was offered. Every day, it superseded shabbos yom tov. You could have it every single day. And we were prevented, the Babylonians in the first churban, they stopped it. Wow. So, this is the carbon tamid. So, can you imagine they have a they have a vote? It's the homework while the rabbis are there. They each eat three egg rolls, bunch of lo mein, and now they take the vote. And what's the vote? Ben Zoma says, most important pasuk is shma. Rabbi Akiva says, "No, no, no, no. Be a lover, not a fighter. Ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha." And the third opinion says, "I think the bumper sticker for the Jewish people, the home screen of every one of our phones, the bumper sticker on our car, and on our dashboard, and the bedroom mirror should all be "Es kevi'acha chadas b'voker." Are you kidding me? Shma, ve'ahavta, I get. Es kevi'acha chadas b'voker, es kevi'acha shni. So, they took a vote in the medrash relates, and the vote concluded that which one is the motto, the mission statement of the Jew? Of course, it's the third. Otherwise, I would not be telling you this if I didn't like it. Es kevi'acha chadas b'voker. The carbon tamid, the daily why? Because you know what the real mission and motto statement of motto and mission statement of a Jew is? Consistency. Continuity. Reliability. Dependability. Not a fair-weather fan. Not when it feels good. Not when it's convenient. Not when it's comfortable. Tamid. Consistent. Regular. Dependable. Reliable. You can't just be a mensch when you have a mindset. You can't just do mitzvahs when you're home, not when you're on vacation, not when you're on the road. You don't just talk to Hashem when you're in the mood, when you're feeling spiritual, when you're on a high. Tamid. So the Ramah both begins and ends his commentary in Shulchan Aruch the Halacha, "Shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid." Hashem, you're with me always. You're not only with me when I think you'll be happy with what I'm watching or saying or listening to or eating. You're with me always when I'm choosing what to watch or listen to or say or how to fill out my tax return or what to do with my time or where I go on my vacation. And tov l'hodot l'Hashem tamid, Purim Katan, you're also with me when I choose to feel simcha. Happiness is a decision, not an emotion. Again, we're talking about on Wednesday mornings. So you're with me tamid, consistent, constant, reliable, dependable. That's who I am. That's how the Ramah both begins and ends his his commentary. And that's what we need. That's what we are and all that's what we are all about. Vince Lombardi says the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. You want to accomplish in life physically, spiritually, relationship, in any area of life, tamid, consistency. All right, so that's a little Purim Katan and a little parsha. And now let's dive right into the parsha more directly with the opening pasuk, page 464. "V'atah tetzaveh et Bnei Yisrael v'yikchu eilecha shemen zayit zach katit l'maor l'haalot ner tamid." Command the children of Israel they should take pure olive oil pressed for illumination to kindle a lamp continuously. Tamid. Here we see tamid again repeated. We also see a definition of tamid, by the way. The korban tamid was not offered all day every day. It was offered the morning and the evening. And there's a big machlokes about the ner tamid, the candelabra. Did it burned continuously or was it lit daily? But you see that one definition of Tamid is daily. Doesn't necessarily mean all day, but it means daily. Means whatever you are meant to do daily, whatever commitment you made, you show up. You're reliable, you're dependable, you do it. You don't break that record. So if you make a commitment, I'm not going to look at my phone during davening, you don't want to break that record. You don't want to break that streak. If you learn the daf yomi, 2,711 pages in a row, you don't want to break that streak. That's the carbon Tamid. That's the definition of regularly. Viata, who's Viata? You. You command Bnei Yisrael, and here's what you should tell them. Get some olives, crush them for some olive oil, use it for the candelabra, for the leichster, for the menorah in the Mishkan. Who's you, Viata? And you. Who's the and you? This is not a trick question. Audience participation is allowed. Who's the and you? Moshe Rabbeinu. So in fact, in fact, Zayin Adar falls out Parshas Tetzaveh. By the way, this is why it seems from Mishna Berurah, it's more appropriate for the Chevra Kadisha to observe the first Zayin Adar because it coincides with Parshas Tetzaveh. And Zayin Adar, Moshe left the world. Moshe's name doesn't appear in Parshas Tetzaveh. Ostensibly, though it's not true, Moshe's name appears in every parsha from when we are introduced to him in Shemot through the end of the Torah. This is the one parsha it doesn't appear. Why doesn't it appear here? Machaneh Efraim Kasha K'seder. Because next week Moshe will threaten, "God, erase me from your book." So Hashem says, "Okay. Don't bluff because I will." And he erases him from the book, and he leaves him out of Parshas Tetzaveh. Only he doesn't. And how does he not leave him out of Parshas Tetzaveh? Where does he appear in Parshas Tetzaveh? In the word Viata, and you. And the Baal HaTurim Zechuto Yagen Aleinu Likutei Sichos explains, we spoke about this in the past. You can listen to think last year or two years ago sheer says in fact Moshe being referred to as the Atah pronoun is an even higher, deeper, more authentic reflection of who Moshe is than using his name. A name limits a person. And you is the essence. A name is a description of a person, but in some ways is a limitation of the person. But we rise even above our name. We are so much more than just our name. Who we are, our essence. Who we are when no one is around. The who we are that nobody sees or knows. The Kodesh Hakodashim in us. That we spoke about last week and we wrote about last week. The Paroches that separates the Kodesh Hakodashim, the capacity to still have a private place in our thoughts. That the Atah, the and you, is an even higher, an even holier. We spoke about it last week. The Baal Haturim points out that the word Ve'atah is Atah v'lo acher. Baal Haturim says Ve'atah, Moshe, you and nobody else. Atah v'lo shlichacha. You and not through an agent. You and not through someone you appoint. You directly. What was so important about crushing the olive oil? What was so important about kindling the menorah that it had to be Moshe Rabbeinu directly, Ve'atah, you and not anybody else? Didn't Yisro just teach Moshe about delegating? Delegating is a key and core character trait or quality for a efficient, productive executive. If you want to be successful, you have to learn how to delegate. So maybe Moshe will hear the instruction and delegate. Hey, you go tell them they need to light the menorah, crush the olives. Why did it have to be Moshe specifically? In Lashon Sivu. The menorah and the carbon tamid. Shnayim nogim ba'hayom. V'isha adam chesron kis. L'chaim l'maspik l'malo al tzarich l'tzavos oso. So why does it need t'tzaveh, command? Command is harsh. not request, not share, not ask, not tell, command. I command you. Command you. It's very harsh, very strong. Why did this require a command and why did it have to be with directly? And the answer is because both the menorah and the carbon tamid have to be done daily. And you know what it is, very hard to be consistent. It's really hard to be consistent. We get excited, we get pumped, we get that high, we get inspired, join the gym, we start running, we start doing squats and lunges, we start doing a plank, we start accepting upon ourselves not to speak lashon hara between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m., or to say this many to hell them, or I'm going to start the daf yomi, the mishnah yomi. Last Shabbos I attended a beautiful kudos and accolades to the women of our community made a siyum on Tanakh. It was a beautiful kiddush Shabbos morning, amazing group of women including two 12-year-old girls in our community who finished Tanakh. There were many more who started Tanakh. Many, many more who started Tanakh. But to get to the finish line of Tanakh, it's a whole other story. To make it to the very end, it's unbelievable. So tell me, to do something consistently, continuously, to make it to the finish line, Titzaveh requires strong language, command. To integrate ourselves. Ram Chal and so on talks about zrizus. There are two zrizus. You need a zrizus, you need an alacrity and enthusiasm to start a project. That we all know. You hear a drasha, motivational speaker, you see, you read, you saw something, it moves you, it inspires you, that's it. A project. I'm redoing my home. I'm starting daf yomi. Volunteering for chessed. I'm going to get my health and wellness in order. Whatever it is, we get excited. Zrizus at the beginning. But then there's this proverbial wall that we run into. And how do you climb over or through or around or under that wall? You need a second burst of zerizus that I'm going to talk about in this week's parsha. That quality of when you hit that wall and most others give up, how do you persevere? How do you fight through? How do you keep doing it? And how do you finish what you started? So, Titzaveh, these are two things, the menorah and the carbon tamid, they require tamid. So, that which requires tamid needs a little extra mhm needs a little extra urge, a little extra encouragement. Moreover, both of them cost something. We spoke about this last week. Got a beautiful donation from somebody in the New York area with an email. They chose to remain anonymous. They said, "I heard this year parshas Tzumah and I dug deep into my pocket, even though I had already allocated all my tzedakah, but message heard and I made this donation to Boca Raton Synagogue." So, very beautiful, very very beautiful. And to that person, if they're watching, thank you, deeply appreciated. So, chesron kiso, when something costs something, you also need a lashon titzaveh. You also need a command. You also need encouragement. You also need urge. So, you need the two things here. But we still need to understand that answers why lashon titzaveh. But why Moshe himself? Viata, you, not anyone else. Don't delegate. Don't hand it off. You and not through an agent, not anyone else. Why? So, the sefer of the Sifsei Chaim, beautiful sefer we've been going through, which is the collection of baalei mussar on the parsha, he quotes here and says the following. He says, "Moshe Rabbeinu was an enormous role model in this area. It took a Moshe Rabbeinu asking and encouraging them to do it because he had done it themselves and they all saw it." When did Moshe When did he show a selfless mesirus nefesh, a willingness to forego financial gain to serve Hashem? When? Where? Where did we see it? Parshas Beshalach. Who said that? Shkoyach. Parshas Beshalach. They crossed the sea. The sea miraculously closes on the Egyptian chariots that are laden with gold and silver. They're ornate with all kinds of jewels. They wash up onto the bank of the sea, and every Jew is stuffing everything they can into their pockets. We spoke about this Parshas Beshalach. In Mitzrayim, they hesitated, they didn't want to take. Now, they can't get enough. What happened between? We spoke about that Parshas Beshalach. So, everyone's stuffing their pockets. Everyone's collecting in their arms as much as they can. They needed to be pulled from the edge of the sea. They just wanted more and more and more. Security, financial stability, wealth, after 210 years of slavery. Moshe Rabbeinu, he's not collecting one thing for himself. You know what he's busy collecting? Atzmos Yosef. The bones of Yosef. He's fulfilling a promise that had been made years before. He is carrying not only the atzmos, the bones of Yosef, he's carrying the atz- mos Yosef, the essence of Yosef. And the essence of Yosef is, in a moment of temptation, desire, and lust, to overcome. Yosef had proved that and put it in us. That is the atzmos, the essence of Yosef. And Moshe Rabbeinu chooses to carry the atzmos Yosef, the essence of Yosef, the perseverance and the tenacity to overcome temptation, desire, to do what's right. That's what he's carrying, rather than the wealth, rather than the gold. So, we see from here, the common denominator From here, there's an incredible lesson for all educators, for anyone who wants to have influence over others. You can't just lecture and give lip service. You can't just dictate and tell. You have to practice. You have to be a living example. What we say has to match what we do. Ralph Waldo Emerson, "I can't hear what you're saying because your actions are speaking so loudly." Our actions have to reinforce what we say or what we say rather has to reinforce what we do. So, Moshe Rabbeinu had proven he had lived this and now the taught it says that when he says, "It's going to cost you. It's not going to be easy. You're going to have to be consistent. You're going to have to find the tenacity and the resilience." Moshe was in the position to be able to tell them and to lecture them because he had also lived it. The Hashem and Zayis Zach, you have to take to yourself Shemen Zayis Zach. I saw the Imrei Chaim the Imrei Chaim the Vizhnitzer says "Titzaveh Lashon Tzavus means to connect, Kesher, a bond." The Hashem is telling Moshe here something. You Titzaveh bond, connect as Bnei Yisrael connect with the Jewish people. How? Yikchu Lecha, draw them close to you. You Moshe Rabbeinu are up here. You Moshe Rabbeinu, you're Moshe Rabbeinu. The greatest human being that ever lived. It's one of the 13 principles of faith to believe that Moshe is categorically different than all others. So, you Moshe, you're up here. But you know how you get close to the people? The Yikchu Lecha. Come down to them. Be close to them. Be connected with them. The Yikchu Lecha, bond with them. Titzaveh Lashon Titzavus. The Yikchu Lecha Shemen Zayis Zach, pure olive oil Kasis Lamor or that has to be crushed for the purpose of illuminating you're going to use it in the in the Mishkan. The Medrash Rabbah tells us Zayis Ra'anan Yafah Pri To'ar Karas Shem Shem Chaim Ki Lo Nikra Yisrael Ela Kezayis Hazeh Bilvad. The Jewish people are likened to this olive. Jewish people are likened to the olive. Mah Zayis Hazeh Atzilo Be'ilano Bigargo Mesulo Acharkach Moridino Shemeino. olive takes a beating. The way the olive first grows on the tree, and then the way it's harvested and plucked, and then you smash it and smoosh it, and then you put it into the press, and then you put an enormous stone, you roll it over it, you press it, you smoosh it, you kick it, you beat it, and only then do you get the delicious, the beautiful olive oil that flows. The nations of the world, the anti-Semites, they mash them, they come, they crush, they beat, they step on, and then we, the Jewish people, we repent from having been stepped on and smooshed and creamed and squeezed, then we do teshuvah, and we say, "That's not who we want to be. We have to live better, earn more, earn more merit, not earn more profit." And God answers, So, the question because the Mashgiach of the Ponevezh wonders, "I don't understand. We started out and it sounded like Hashem loves us, and we're like the olive that we're beautiful and radiant in the tree, and then we get squeezed and squashed, and but a beautiful olive oil comes out. It sounds like what is worth more? I don't know if that's the gardener or a blender or what's going on back there. But anyone can feel free to ask them to zoom at 10:30. Thank you. Someone's going to thank you. Deeply appreciate. So, which is worth more? You go to the store, what costs more? Olive oil, pure olive oil, or olives? Olive oil. Olive oil is worth more. Pure olive oil. We use olive oil in cooking, olive oil is used in skin care, olive oil is used in written fragrance, olive oil is used in all kinds of important things. So, it sounds like the Mashgiach was telling us that when you squeeze and crush and step on and smoosh, the olive oil that comes out is more precious and more valuable. So, too, with the Jewish people. Those anti-Semites, they're trying to exterminate and destroy us, but you know what happens? You become better, stronger, more resilient, more focused, more faithful. It comes out as even stronger. But then the measure ends by saying, "So to the Jewish people who do chuva and realize that they're lowly, crushed, good-for-nothing." And then they do chuva and they're worth proven worthy and now they're like olive oil. So, what happened? What happened? So, he says he's throwing them shmuel zaisel mednu to teach us. To teach us shakasham shazaisel marosha pirosa naimem shibacham ushmen meshubach on them zalam magiya bekalos. It's a lot a lot of lessons that we learn out of the olive in the comparison to the Jew. Number one is you do not get the olive oil out of the olive easily. You want some lemon juice on your fish? You squeeze the lemon and you got lemon juice on your fish. You want some orange juice? Give a shika squeeze to the orange, you have some orange juice. You want an olive oil? You don't squeeze the olive. Anyone make their own olive oil at home? People make orange juice. Like grapefruit juice, like lemon juice. But olive oil? You got to squeeze and crush and step on and press. Takes a lot of work. No magiya because it doesn't come easily. The dress is again to assume as much as we can assume on kaki stroll and begin the malas to mush shakash barak shish madrak kala. So, too we don't realize and recognize the incredible potential and power, the potency we have within ourselves without being pressed without being pushed. This is the idea of a nissan we spoke about this many times before as well. That I from a vino and all of our others underwent nissanus. They underwent tests. Because through a test, we bring out, we take it from the potential into the real. It's only when we're pressed against the wall that we're forced to realize within ourselves possibility we never knew. Many in this room, many we all know have gone through very very hard times. We wonder, we ask, and we wish it didn't happen at all. That is true. And all of that is true. But afterwards, we realize and discover things about ourselves that if we're honest, we admit we never ever would have discovered or realized had we not been put through that situation to begin with. Still doesn't necessarily mean we're grateful for it, we want it or wish it, but we grew and we realized in ways we never otherwise would have. So, when we go through those hardships and those difficult times, we have to look for and extract and capture and then advance whatever it is that we learned. Moreover, moreover, another connection. This is brought by Reb Baruch Sorotzkin, the Rosh Yeshiva tells. He says, uh Sakh Lavin, Ma dimyon ben Shemen l'Yisrael? Why are the Jewish people likened to oil? Hashem likavod tishrei v'tish'in y'cholas l'sarev mashkin. You know, oil can't mix with any other liquid. Oil always stays separate. Mashken can be srov umos um nishpakach iser. Ma dimyon l'shemen? So, Reb Baruch Sorotzkin says, advam k'pshutam, Yisrael may atzam tiv'am einam y'cholas l'sarev b'goyim. Sh'keinain b'nuyam m'tzius ruchniyus einam n'yusl'i nibasav it. V'gam ilu sh'chalila ad v'einam izdakim zeh v'zeh, rak nish'arim b'olam nifradim. What was his question? His question was, you can shake up the salad dressing, but when you set it down and it rests, the olive oil is always going to separate from the water. It's nature, science. We believe in science. In science, the olive oil is always going to separate from the other liquid. So, why are the Jewish people compared to olive oil? It's over 70% intermarriage rate. Rachmana l'tzlan, outside the Orthodox today, it's over sev- more than seven out of 10 Jews are not going to marry a Jew. How can you say we don't mix? We have an issue not to mix, but there is a mixture. So, the tells says, it's as inherent, it should be as natural within the Jew to stay separate and to realize that we have a different responsibility and we're here for a different mission. It should be as natural. It should be as scientific. It should be as built into the briah as olive and and water as oil and water not mixing. He doesn't mention this, but this is what we say in Havdalah every Motzei Shabbos. Ben Yisrael Amen. On the one hand, we participate and we contribute to, we take from a society around us. We've said it countless times. Avraham Avinu Ger V'Toshav Anochi Imachem. We're a Ger, we're a stranger and a Toshav at the same time, simultaneously. But really in our essence and our core, when we say Havdalah every Motzei Shabbos, we come out of Shabbos and we remind ourselves here are the core principles, here are the core values. A Jew needs to distinguish between holy and profane. A Jew needs to distinguish between Shabbos and the rest of the days of the week. And a Jew needs to distinguish between the Jewish people and the rest of the world. That even while we contribute to and take from, but we have to remember we're different. And our differences are not superimposed upon us. Our differences are natural. They're built into the briah. They're programmed and they are and they are real. Okay. What is the purpose of the bigdei kehunah? So, we go from here. I'll just pose a question you can think about and come back to another time that this section that began about squeezing the olives, the olive oil, the candelabra doesn't belong here. Doesn't belong here. Where does it belong? Parshas Tetzaveh. Here we're hearing about the materials and the designs for the utensils last week's parsha for the bigdei kehunah this week's parsha. What is this doing here? Doesn't belong. The whole first two Sukhim of our parsha do not belong here. Why were they put here between Trumah and the beginning of Tetzaveh? Why are they here? They don't belong here. What makes much more sense is should start at from Pasuk Aleph. And you even see that in the break of the Prakim. Really, the parsha should begin perek of ches, pasuk aleph. The attack and now bring yourself out on your brother with his sons and from among the children bring them close to me. Aaron bring Aaron and his sons and then we again list Aaron and then we list his sons. Nadav and Avihu, Elazar and Itamar, Bnei Aaron, the sons of Aaron. If I've ever seen redundancy, it's here. Moshe is told bring Aaron your brother and his sons close. Who are they? Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, Elazar and Itamar, who are the sons of your brother Aaron. This pasuk makes no sense. Does it bother any of you? You don't look like it bothers you. Come on, show me a face like it bothers you. So we're not going to give an answer, but I want you to think about that. Why the redundancy? Why do we repeat? Why is the pasuk structured in that very bizarre way? But why is Moshe supposed to bring them close? Vi'asisa bigdei kodesh l'Aharon achicha. It's time to make clothing for your brother. L'chavod u'ltif'eres. And what is the purpose of this clothing? Purpose of the clothing is l'chavod u'ltif'eres. L'chavod u'ltif'eres. So we'll go from one tells her to another. We quote Rav Sorotzkin and now we go to the Meged Yosef. Now we go to Rav Yosef Yehuda Leib Sorotzkin in his Meged Yosef. And he says the following. Not only is there a question of what does it mean that the clothing is l'chavod u'ltif'eres? What does it mean that the clothing, the purpose of the clothing is for wisdom and splendor, for glory and splendor, but moreover, fast forward. Go to pasuk gimmel. Now the pasuk says Yehi adas b'leiv. tailors and seamstresses and what's the they're going to make the clothing that I just told you about. And a moment ago I told you that the purpose of the clothing is what? It's a good brand. Someone should make the brand. Brand of clothing, cover all the Sephardis. And now he says, "But what's the purpose?" "To cut all of it." To sanctify and to serve me. So which is it? Wonders the Megid Yosef. Is the purpose of the big day the purpose of the priestly garments are they the Sephardis? Are they for glory and splendor? Or are they for the cut all of it? To sanctify and to serve me. Which is it? But yet the may live and stuff she also cut all of it. So he says he goes to the Zohar. The Zohar says can be cut all of it. Who should be it tells the tailor you think you're the only one operating the sewing machine? You think you're the one making the clothing? I'm writing it with you. I'm your partner. I'm your partner. And the master in the Zohar total of the Zohar. It means that the master of the Zohar totally of the Zohar the master of the Zohar is the cut all of it. You the producers the manufacturers of this holy and sacred clothing, you need to know while you're doing it that you're doing it to advance and serve a holy purpose. The master of the Zohar master of the Zohar master of the Zohar. We're physical beings and we value the aesthetic. We see the beauty and we appreciate beauty. We appreciate beauty. We appreciate quality. The Zohar the Zohar the Zohar. We talk the Zohar the Zohar the Zohar the Zohar the Zohar. There's nothing wrong with appreciating the aesthetic. We appreciate beauty. It has value. There's godliness in beauty. It's one of the wisdoms is aesthetic beauty. That's why Zekel V'naki beautify God. Why does it matter that my esrog is beautiful? Why does it matter that my filling my safer Torah that I light my candles on a beautiful candelabra? Why does all that matter? Cuz we appreciate. The king had to get a haircut daily. The kohen gadol had to dress in fine clothing that is majestic, it's royal. Why? Bless you. Because people appreciate when they see, they honor, they understand. It's godly, it's royal, it's majestic. And this is what This is the answer to the question. Says the Megaleh Amukos, So when it comes to the people wearing it, when it comes to the people wearing it, they have to know I stand for God, the kohen gadol, in a position of leadership. I represent God, I represent Hashem, I represent his wisdom. And one of the ways to bring people closer to them to see and admire and appreciate the aesthetic and the beauty. However, to the people who are manufacturing it, to the people who are making and producing the garment that will later be worn in order to represent and elevate, they have to be focused the kavod, the kedusha. And to have other machshavos people have some extraneous thought, "Ooh, I'm the one making the clothing of the big of the kohen gadol. Ooh, isn't it beautiful and majestic? Isn't it valuable and priceless?" No, the kavod v'l'chvod Hashem only. When we manufacture, when we do it, it has to be for the purpose of the kavod v'l'chvod Hashem only. And then when we use it, it has to be the kavod v'l'sifarah. And this insight of the Megaleh Amukos I would apply not just to the difference in the way the bigdei kehuna are depicted, but you can extend it beyond. When you go by that beautiful majestic kiddush cup, couple years ago I bought myself a new beautiful kiddush cup. I'm very into Shabbos, if you don't know. And the Shabbos table, they're beautiful beautiful items. The whole Shabbos table is elevated. And I'm not saying be ostentatious, and I'm not saying show off, and I'm certainly not saying buy beyond your means and go into debt with what you can't afford. There's a beauty to simplicity also. There's a beauty to that which is ornate and beautiful, that which is shiny, that which is valuable. Shows what we value. We elevate, we transform. So, when you go buy that kiddush cup, it has to be the culture of Ali. I'm going to buy it not to show off. I'm going to buy it not to flex. I'm going to buy it not to be ostentatious. But when I lift that kiddush cup to make kiddush out of a beautiful beautiful kiddush cup which is so heavy I can barely lift it in my hand, that's the cover of the forest. Shh. You want to be beautiful, look at how majestic, look at how amazing Shabbos. Shabbos is what's amazing. And whether I have a packed full table, whether I'm home all alone, I still use that same kiddush cup because it's the cover of the forest. I'm turning and transforming that material into that which is holy for you. The cover of the forest. So, I thought this was a brilliant insight of why the difference are the big day Kahuna. Are they the cover of the forest or are they the culture of Ali? It depends. One is addressing the Kahuna who would wear it, and the other is addressing those who would manufacture and produce it. Okay. But Reuven Feinstein I also got in the mail my good friend Lenny Friedman sent me the latest of Reuven Feinstein the Ohr Shalom, his commentary on the parsha on safer Shmos. He sent me Vayikra also, so you rest assured. I don't want anyone to worry. As we're finishing up safer Shmos, he says the big day Kahuna of the cover of the forest he quotes, "Torah says big day Kahuna which sons of Aaron the Kohain would wear must be the cover of the garments of glory and splendor. The Rosh Yeshiva said he comes with bracha. I assume when Rav Reuven Feinstein refers to the Rosh Yeshiva he's talking about his father of Moshe. He didn't say my father of Moshe, Avi Mori, the Rosh Yeshiva. Asked if you think about it, the four garments mentioned here, the pants, the tunics, the sashes, and the turbans, that Hashem said should be made the cover of the garments are four basic garments a person always wears. These are not extra things. This is not a description of the additional layers that we don't normally wear. So, why if these are basic garments that people often or always wear, in what ways are ordinary clothing the shame of the garments? According to the clothing was also functioning to protect the kohen from being naked. Not only the cover of the garments. Now, it's men who wore pants here today, why are you wearing pants? Why are you wearing pants? Everybody knows it's a horrific nightmare to wake up and you had a nightmare that you were in a public place and you forgot to put your pants on. Would you say I'm wearing my pants the cover of the garments? Do you know these are Lululemon pants? These are You know what I spent on these pants? Special pants, custom-made pants the cover of the garments. I'm wearing pants cuz it's a busha to be seen in public without pants. It happens to be that a lot of society today didn't get that memo. Happens to be. They never got the memo that it's a nightmare to be naked in public. For many they think it's a dream, not a nightmare, but it's a nightmare. It's a nightmare to be naked in public. We should still should still be a nightmare. I give us all a bracha for ourselves and our children. It should remain a nightmare. So, what do you mean the clothing is the shame of the garments? The cover of the garments? The clothing is so it's not a busha that I'm naked. As I said earlier to Moshe, this was the question that the Rosh Yeshiva asked. So, the answer he gave was that we need to understand the whole idea behind clothing. Before the sin of eating the fruit of knowledge, Adam and Eve could walk around unclothed without feeling any shame whatsoever. The notion of being unclothed in public and not noticing or feeling that's a dream, that is a reserve for the period of the of the of the Gan Eden. When we were first created and the yetzer hara was not intrinsic, the yetzer hara was not internal, the yetzer hara was manifest in the nachash, in the snake, external, was a voice outside ourselves, but we were pure and all we had was the yetzer hatov and we were destined to have immortality, to live forever. So, a person didn't notice they were naked because nakedness and the temptation that comes with it are all part of the yetzer hara. Freud argued and he wasn't wrong that it is the most the strongest, the most fundamental yetzer hara that man struggles with is the yetzer hara for licentiousness, for promiscuity, for this area of life, which is where awareness of nakedness or unawareness of it comes from. They were perfect in every way and their behavior was as well, so they had nothing to hide and no reason to feel shame. On that level, appearing unclothed is not embarrassing, doesn't call attention to anything negative. When doing the avodah, a cohen must ideally be on the level of Adam Harishon kodem achit. He should be so elevated and pure at that moment he could come before Hashem even if he were not wearing any clothing at all. His entire physical body, his makom amila would be viewed only leshem shamayim, perfect and flawless, immortal. If a cohen would be on this level, regular items of clothing that Hashem commands him to wear are unnecessary to prevent embarrassment. The only reason to wear them is why? The kavod leshem shamayim. Therefore, therefore, it it is only shame born of using our bodies the wrong way that creates the need for clothing. Now, the yetzer hara becomes part of us, a great potential exists for us to sin. To appear naked is to expose us to the embarrassment of this potential corruption. We were thus embarrassed to be in this state, forcing us to walk around clothing clothed. So, in other words, in Gan Eden, by the way, right after in Gan Eden, right after the sin, the hate, they eat of the us. The Lord says, "What did you do?" All of a sudden, what's their first reaction? Adam and Eve turn to one another. What do they say? They say, "Did you feel that breeze?" Something feel a little off? And the clothes them it's a great act of kindness. Why were they not They weren't aware of their nakedness before? Only now do they feel shame and modesty and cover up. What happened? The answer is the was external and all became internal. So, it's a beautiful insight he quotes from his father. So, Reb Moshe, the clothing that we ordinarily wear and that we wear to cover our nakedness, not because of the forest. Why is it called cover the forest? Because the idea is that the God the serving in the bush the should be on the level of the forest. The are supposed to be back to that point of no sorrow. They are supposed to be living in that highest plane. So, they have no need to wear clothing for anything other than the cover of the forest. The celebration goes on inside here on these words. So, the king of the forest the cover of the forest He says, "People appointed by the public such as government officials have always worn uniforms. The post office people wear a uniform, the police wear a uniform, the army wears a uniform, uniforms. Uniform indicates that one wearing it holds an office is endowed with authority. Even an absolute monarch wears a uniform to distinguish himself from the ordinary citizen. Leadership and distinction express themselves in distinctive garments. The dignity of man lies in his or her dress. Dignity, unlike other any other capability, must be planted into a person. If dignity is not part of his educational process, he will never possess it. Dignity does not come on its own. In a king or ruler, personal capabilities or lack of them often go unnoticed. But lack of dignity is noticed. And a ruler that exhibits it is punished that is punished by the people. Clothing is an expression not of the intellect, but of the dignity of man. And uniforms imply that those donning them are specially selected by the people and are given certain privileges that others do not receive. There's a special aspect of humility that's indispensable to positions of power. One's authority comes not from within, but from without. Hashem wanted the Kohan Gadol to realize that he was undeserving of his position. When he wore his uniform, the Kohan Gadol recognized that he filled his role not due to his own merit, which were insufficient for anyone to assume such a high office. The same was true of a king. Without donning his royal garments, he would not have the authority to act as a king. Mosha, on the other hand, required no special vestments in his position of leadership. His greatness was earned and not bestowed. So, very, very interesting insight the Rav says that when we wear clothing, we're wearing a uniform. And the purpose of a uniform, first of all, is to identify. Everyone wears a uniform. When we lived here many moons ago in Captiva, for the home we're in now, we had a neighbor across the street who no longer lived there, who uh the Jewish, not observant, and very eccentric. Had crazy tattoos and piercings and holes and all kinds of and often preached, we'd talk, we interacted and schmoozed about individual expression, not conforming, not needing to belong, being independent in her thinking, in her dress, in her everything. Until one day she had a party. And I noticed that everybody who came over was also so independent that they all had the tattoos, the piercings, the whole So, they were wearing a uniform, and the uniform was independence and anti-establishment, and everyone wears a uniform. Everyone wears a uniform. Question is, which one of uniform you wear? So, the uniform reflects who we with whom we want to identify. With whom we want to identify. Clothing do make the man. In many ways, the clothing does make the person. And you'll say, "Well, don't judge a book by the cover and just because I dress that way, why should you assume I am that person?" The answer is, if you don't want to be assumed that way, then don't dress that way. We identify with Now, they say dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Dress for the job that you want, not the job that you have. Who do you want to be and how do you want to be perceived by others? So, on the one hand, the uniform is a point of identity. But Rav Soloveitchik is saying so brilliantly the uniform also has another purpose. The other purpose of the uniform is that we show, the uniform of power at least, that we show that the power is external, it's bestowed, it is a responsibility. It's not internal, it's not intrinsic, it's not necessarily earned. So, by putting on the uniform, you're essentially putting on the power. When you take off the uniform or you lose the uniform, you have lost that power. It was never yours altogether, it was bestowed upon you. It is borrowed, but never fully but never fully owned. Okay, moving right along. The choshen and the ephod. All right, this is where we begin to triage. 10:25. We have to enter the triage stage of our shiur. The choshen and the ephod. But I don't want to triage. But I have to triage. Ela began the choshen and the ephod to make These are the vestments you make, the breastplate, the ephod, the robe, the tunic of box like knit, turban, sash. One of them is the choshen and the ephod. And the ephod. This is what you have to make a breastplate and an ephod. What is the ephod? Zocher Rashi, what is the ephod? What does Rashi say? How does he define the ephod? I lost the place. I felt that I never I never found it described or elucidated exactly what it looks like. The libi omerli But my heart tells me, says Rashi, shulcha gola me'acharav, that this is the way it's tied, this is what it looks like, and here's an example, those who ride horses, they wear it. Libi omerli. Am I allowed a libi omerli that I don't want to keep Yom Kippur this year? Libi omerli that I don't have to fast on Tisha B'Av this year? Libi omerli that I could have the cheeseburger? What is Rashi's libi omerli? I don't know, it doesn't say it anywhere. I don't know exactly what it means, but libi omerli, my heart tells me that this is what it means. What do you mean my heart tells me that this is what it means? What do you mean my heart tells me that this is what it means? So, the answer is What does it mean libi omerli? Libi omerli, as Rav Soloveitchik says, means that when you have an intimate relationship with another, when you have an incredible closeness with another, when you are two halves who have become a whole, and your heart beats together with another, you can finish their sentence. And even when they're not around and someone says, "I wonder what they want. I wonder what they would say. I wonder what they would think." You say, "Oh, nobody knows them like I know them. We're two halves of a whole. We think alike. We feel alike. Our heart beats as one, and I can finish that sentence. I can tell you what they want." When a person has earned that their heart beats with Torah and with Hashem, then you qualify as libi omerli. There's a Torah intuition to know the ratzon Hashem. Rav Soloveitchik gave a hesped for his uncle, for the Brisker Rav, and he talked about the two relationships you can have with Torah. You can have erusin and nisuin. You can be engaged to Torah, and you can be married to Torah. Now, the engaged couple, depends what community you're from. Some community, the engaged couple knows the other party fairly well. In some community, you're lucky if they still remember how to spell the other person's name. But there's a big difference between how well you know the person, how much you could finish their sentence when you're engaged versus when you're married. And there's an enormous difference. It's always so cute under the huppah. I do a lot of weddings. The hassan and kallah, they think they're in love under the huppah. It's so adorable that they think that they're in love. So adorable that they think that they know what love is. They think they know who they who they are. You don't know what love is until you've been through challenge and success, till you've celebrated, till you've mourned, till you've fought and had to reconcile and work it out, till you've navigated and compromised, till you've lived, you don't know what love is. But then you can finish the other person's sentence. In a healthy relationship, in a beautiful and functional marriage, you can finish the other person's sentence. So the Rav developed this idea that there are those they're barely dating Torah. There are those who never met Torah. There are those who even engaged to Torah. But there are very few who are married to Torah. And he said his uncle was married to Torah. His uncle had an intuition and an instinct. When his uncle spoke about this is the ratzon Hashem, he spoke with authority. And you can't begin to compare someone who has a casual relationship with Torah who says, "I think this is the the truth." with somebody who lives and sleeps and breathes 24/7 Torah. You can't begin to compare somebody who's married to Torah, somebody who lives Torah. So that whole notion of libi omreli, and who's qualified to say libi omreli, "My heart tells me." We live in a generation. This is true in secular topics, and all the more so it's true and dangerous in the world of Torah. You know, you Google and somebody had an internet connection internet connection and a keyboard, so they wrote an article, "This is my opinion." Or this is the halachic conclusion. And someone else finds that article and says, "Oh, I follow this halacha." Who's that person? I don't know anything. Are they qualified, competent? I have no idea. Is it peer reviewed, so to say? No clue. Did you ever hear of I don't know who they are, where they are, I know nothing, but it says it on the internet, it must be true. Who qualifies as libi omerli? Who are our gedolei Yisrael? Who are our rabanim? Who are our poskim? Who are those who are married to Torah? They're not just engaged to Torah, they're not just dating Torah, they didn't just hear once about Torah, but they're married and they breathe and they live Torah. Who are the libi omerli? Who are the libi omerli? Rebbe Nachman Rebbe Nachman says "V'nasa Aharon es shmos bnei Yisrael b'choshen hamishpat." Skip the pasuk of "fast." The same choshen that we just spoke about. So, Rebbe Nachman says page 470 Aharon puts on the names of the Jewish people on his breastplate and he wears it on his heart when he goes into the kodesh. He wears it on his heart, the names of the Jewish people when he goes into the kodesh. Rebbe Nachman Likutei Moharan he writes the reason that people are distant from Hashem, they're down and out, they feel helpless and hopeless is because they're disconnected from Hashem. When a person feels that they're a creature of they're a a consequence of nature when a person feels it's all to them, they can feel sad, despondent, down and out. Lo shamah moshe mikotzei ummah me'al ha'aretz kasha. So, the way to get close again is to feel a connection to Hashem. Is to feel happiness and joy, to know that everything's for a reason, everything's for a purpose, there's meaning and order to the universe. Mai ya'aseh hayehudi shemagish ein lo Torah, ein lo tefillah? What should a Jew do who feels I don't have Torah, I don't have tefillah, I don't have anything? Who am I? What merits do I have? What hope do I have? What future do I have? Do you know how far I've fallen? And that's why I feel so down and out and I can't feel any happiness and joy. Such a person who's struggling with this so that Jew needs to know don't ever forget where you come from. You're a Jew. Don't ever forget you come from. You're a prince, you're a princess, you're royalty. You're a child of Hashem. And that's what Aharon would wear. He wore on his breastplate the names of the Jewish people. He wore the Jewish people on his heart. That even no matter where you go, the guiding light, the compass that guides you. Baruch Hashem Belibo. Aaron Aaron wasn't jealous of his brother Moshe. He was happy for Moshe, even though Moshe was younger than he. And Moshe wasn't jealous of Aaron that he got to be the Kohan Gadol, even though he wanted that position. He was happy for Aaron that he got to get it. And that's where we find happiness is when we can be happy for one another, and we can ride the coattails of one another, and we can see the success of one another. Then no matter what we're going through, no matter how we feel, it can lift us, and it can enrich us, and it can propel us. Okay, let's just finish with one last idea. One last idea. Olam Moed. One last idea. Even though we had so many more ideas. One last idea. Parshat Tetzaveh Turn the page. Turn two pages. 474. Last idea, stay with us. If you're watching online or listening later, I know we're at the end, but stay with us one more. Parshat Tetzaveh. We'll make it worth your while. I'm sorry, Parshat Tetzaveh. Keep going. It's on page 480. Page 480. Olas Tamid and we spoke about the Tamid, consistency, constancy, Parshat Korach, the Ramah, the the most important pasuk, Olas Tamid Korach. Pasuk A continual elevation offering for your generations. Pesach before Hashem. You bring it to the entrance of the Olam Moed before Hashem. Why? Why there? Asher Eid Shamah. Where I shall set my meeting with you to speak to you there. What's the root of the word Eid The same root as the word moed. Moed, every holiday, moed, moed, moed. A moed is an appointed time. We can have a rendezvous place and a rendezvous in time. And every moed is a rendezvous in time. It's a moed. As I said, I have appointed there to speak to you from there. I have appointed there to speak to you from there. What happened to Uncle Moishie? What do I mean, what happened to Uncle Moishie? Who knows what I mean? Thank you. Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam shehakol nihyeh bidvaro. Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is everywhere. Hashem says, "No, only there." I made a place for us, that's where we meet. That's where we connect, that's where we talk, that's where we go, that's where we are. What do you mean, only there? Orach Chaim Hakadosh asked that question. Frankly, Orach Chaim Hakadosh, eizen achitos yesh lanu dasha kaim makom kavu'a min emunim davar kadosh baruch hu. Why is that relevant? Why are we being told this here in our parsha? That we built it all and made it functional and Hashem said, "Good, let's meet in our usual meeting place cuz that's where I talk to you from." So, Shmuel Birnbaum, that's our Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir in Brooklyn, explained that this is a raya, this is a makor for makom kavu'a. You have to know that if you want to connect with God, it can't be haphazard. It's not casual and you don't stumble upon it, it's not by chance. It can't be an attitude that we have that right now I'm convenient and comfortable and where I want when I want. There's the notion of a makom meyuchad, of a makom kavu'a. The preparation, designating, elevating, of having a special place, of having a special place. When we have a special place, when we create rituals and ceremonies around special places, then we change our attitude and atmosphere to what we do there. The bedroom should have certain rules and regulations. And the dining room table should have rules and regulations. And having a makom kavua, so that when we enter that space, it's like a uniform is for our body, what the space is for our soul. It changes our attitude, our perspective, our demeanor, and what we're able to achieve and accomplish there. So, Hashem says you're not going to trip upon talking to me. Yes, Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is everywhere. Yes, we do hisbodedus in the middle of the forest, and we do hisbodedus by the lake, and we do hisbodedus. Yes, it's all true. But if you want to achieve holiness and sanctity, you have to designate, and you have to make special, and you have to have a seriousness to it, order and preparation to it. It has to be something which is a a makom kavua. And we see this in halacha, the Gemara Berachot daf vov tells us we have to be kovea makom l'tefillaso, following Avraham Avinu, we designate a place to daven. So, what is he talking about kovea makom l'tefillaso? So, the Rosh Berachot writes, kovea makom l'tefillaso means a makom kavua in shul. Ma is he? Ma is he? Now is not the time. What are the halachot? What governs and regulates makom kavua? Can you kick someone else out of the seat? Does the seat mean that seat or any four amos around that seat? You draw a circle six feet. And anywhere six feet within that seat, that's still part of your seat? How long are you entitled to your makom kavua? If you're late to shul, minyan starts at 9:00, you get there at 9:22. You're still entitled to your makom kavua? But all else being equal, and a seat is available to you, having a general area where that's my area. When I get into that space, I'm in my cockpit. I'm in my space. I'm in the central location. That's where it all happens. That's where I make it happen. So, the Rosh says makom kavua. But what I want to share with you that was very relevant to me, beginning of Corona in particular, is Rabbeinu Yonah. Rabbeinu Yonah, in his commentary in the back of the Gemara Berachot, says, makom kavua doesn't mean in shul. The whole shul is a makom kavua for tfila. The whole shul is a place to daven. So, it's okay. Shacharit sit in the front, Mincha sit in the back. Shabbat sit in the side. Next week you sit over there. Wherever you find a seat in shul, it's fine. It's all makom kavua cuz the whole makom is kavua for davening, says Rabbeinu Yonah. So, where is he talking about that you need a makom kavua? In your house. In your home. You can't daven sometimes at the seat, sometimes the kitchen table, sometimes the dining table, sometimes the recliner. Sometimes while doing the dishes, sometimes while the backyard, sometimes the says the Rashba makom kavua, kavua, Rabbeinu Yonah rather. Says Rabbeinu Yonah the makom kavua isn't shul, isn't home. That's where you need to establish a makom kavua. The whole shul is a makom kavua. So, how do we pasken in Shulchan Aruch with the Rashba? The makom kavua is in shul, not the home. However, it's brought down by many that we apply it to the home as well. And it applies both to men and I think even more to women who more often are davening at home and not in shul. But the idea that when we create a kvius, a consistency, which is really the theme of our parsha, when we create consistency and seriousness, then we achieve higher and more lofty things. Then we're able to transform ourselves and our attitude. So, Kodesh Boruchu says, "If I am in the Hashama, it's in our regular meeting place. Don't change our location. Don't adjust. Yes, you can talk to me anywhere and yes, I'm listening everywhere and yes, I talk to you everywhere. But if you really want to grow, you really want to elevate, you have to go to our usual place. So, it's important to have a usual place and I think within our homes, it's very important. Very important. Whether you have a shtender in your house, or you have a corner in the house, or you have where you keep the siddurim in your house, a bookcase in the house. Where is that place that when you're there, everyone else in the home knows don't talk to mommy. Don't talk or daven right now. They're davening. They're going That's their shul inside the house. Rabbeinu Yonah uses that kind of lashon. You create a shul inside your house, not a breakaway from the shul, and not an alternative to the shul, but it means in extenuating circumstances that you create that within the home, within the house itself. We'll learn about that a lot more, but Baruch Hashem, we'll read Parshas Tetzaveh again next year. Have a